I Am Your Judge: A Novel Read Online Free PDF Page A

and above reproach.”
    “You can’t compare the two,” Bodenstein argued.
    “Why not?” Pia said with a shrug. “Anyone who is seventy years old has a long past in which all sorts of things could have happened.”
    “I could do some research on the victim,” Ostermann croaked.
    “Definitely do that,” Bodenstein said, nodding. “Maybe the ballistics report on the bullet will tell us something about the murder weapon.”
    “Good.” Nicola Engel stood up. “Please keep me in the loop, Oliver.”
    “I will.”
    “So, good luck.” She went to the door but then turned. “Thanks for jumping in today, Ms. Kirchhoff. I wish you a lovely vacation and a Merry Christmas.”
    “I hope you have a nice holiday, too,” said Pia. “Thanks.”
    Ostermann pushed back his chair and walked shakily to his office, coughing all the way. Pia followed. There was a whole row of medications on his desk, with a thermos of tea and a box of Kleenex.
    “I haven’t had a cold this bad in a long time,” Ostermann moaned. “If we didn’t have a homicide case right now, I’d just stay home tomorrow. You’d better leave, Pia, before you catch what I’ve got and sit around on the cruise ship coughing and sniffling.”
    “Jeez, Kai, it makes me feel terrible to leave you alone with this,” she said.
    “Ah, bullshit.” Ostermann sneezed and blew his nose. “I wouldn’t feel guilty in the slightest if I’d booked a vacation trip, and you had to sit around here, half dead.”
    “Thank you. You say the sweetest things.” Pia flung her little leather backpack over her shoulder and gave him a grin. “So I’ll just wish you a speedy recovery and Merry Christmas. Ciao, pal!”
    “Say hi to the sun at the equator for me.” Kai Ostermann waved and sneezed again. “Now, get the heck out of here!”

 
    Thursday, December 20, 2012
    Bodenstein had not slept well. After tossing and turning for half an hour, he was wide awake and decided to get up before he woke Inka, who was sound asleep next to him, snoring quietly. He left the bedroom without turning on the light, pulled on a fleece jacket over his pajamas, and went downstairs. In the kitchen, he turned on the brand-new coffeemaker that he’d given himself as his favorite Christmas present, and set a cup under the spigot.
    Two people out sick in K-11, Cem Altunay and Pia on vacation, and a murder case that didn’t seem like it would be cleared up anytime soon. The flu season had run riot among his colleagues, so there weren’t even any reinforcements to fall back on from other investigative units.
    The grinder in the coffeemaker rattled, and a few minutes later, the coffee ran into the cup and a marvelous aroma filled the kitchen. Bodenstein slipped his bare feet into his short lambskin-lined boots and stepped out onto the balcony. He took a sip of coffee—he had never had better—and sat down on the synthetic cotton couch under the protruding eaves. He wrapped himself in one of the woolen blankets that he took from the neatly folded pile on one of the easy chairs. The air was frosty cold, but so clear that Bodenstein could see the running lights of an airplane landing at the Frankfurt Airport. The view over the Rhein-Main plain, from the city past the industrial park in Höchst to the Frankfurt Airport, was always spectacular—day or night, in summer and winter. He loved sitting outside like this, losing himself in his thoughts and letting his gaze roam free. He had never regretted for a single second buying this half duplex in the Ruppertshain district of Kelkheim. For him, it meant a return to normal life, which had been abruptly shattered after his divorce from Cosima four years ago. The only constant during that chaotic time had been his job, and he still had that only because Pia had saved his ass several times. His inability to concentrate had led to some serious mistakes, which he was ashamed to acknowledge, but she had never wasted one word on castigating him or